Janneur Valley
The Janneur Valley (Savamese Vallée de la Janneur, Verborian Valle dell’Ianno) is a narrow valley (properly a gorge) in Savam and Ceresora where the river Védomagne cuts through the Benovian Range mountains to an exit on the Sabamic Plain. It measures 8.9 kilometres (roughly 5.5 miles) from end to end. As part of the widely-travelled lower Védomagne, it has been part of a major shipping corridor in eastern Messenia for centuries; significant dredging work was undertaken in the 20th century to allow larger ships to pass through the valley.
The Janneur is a fairly recent tectonic graben, later enlarged by glacial and riparian erosion. It narrows to less than 500 metres (1,650 feet) on three locations collectively known as the Défilés de la Védomagne (the Védomagne Passes). The narrowest pass is the Défilé de Cordeto (the Cordeto Pass), where the river banks are only 210 metres (690 feet) apart and the mountains rise up to 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) above. The spectacular vistas so formed have made the Janneur a popular cruising route, and the temple at the Nexus of Great Virtues, perched on a rock face on the riparine island of Duône at the southern entrance to the valley, has become a popular viewpoint.
The current is fairly strong in the valley, but the Védomagne has been navigable for most of the year throughout in recorded history. The current in winter is strong enough that the river does not freeze in the Janneur, even if this is so elsewhere. However, in flooding episodes the water can rise to dangerously high levels, making it unnavigable.